Could matches be fairer if the match-making system was allowed to take longer times to create matches?

[demon09 91]

It usually takes like 10-20 seconds to get into a match. I'd happily wait longer if it meant that the matches were fairer and actually fun.

Edited March 28, 2024 by demon09

[Maf 32,859]

Yes, but increasing waiting times even a little bit has huge implications for player retention. Platers are much more likely to put up with being put into unbalanced battles, than having to spend more time waiting in queue.

[demon09 91]

On 3/28/2024 at 4:02 PM, Maf said:

Yes, but increasing waiting times even a little bit has huge implications for player retention. Platers are much more likely to put up with being put into unbalanced battles, than having to spend more time waiting in queue.

You're sure? For me it's the complete opposite.

I'd happily wait even 1 min if it meant I could spend 7 minutes enjoying a fun match, rather then waiting 10 seconds and than having to exit and enter a bunch of matches over and over again (and probably spend more time than 1 min doing this) until I get a fair match if I'm lucky - and then the reinforcement system can quickly ruin that fair match if any players leave, which often happens as soon as one team does slightly better than the other, causing OP players to join and dominate the match, which makes me feel like I've wasted both time and supplies on the match and feel like quitting in an irritated mood.

I'm sure that's why there's so many angry posts on the forum complaining about the game - it leaves people irritated and wondering why they play.

I can't see how short wait times is worth it for the overall experience with the game because of these things.

Edited March 28, 2024 by demon09

[Maf 32,859]

On 3/28/2024 at 7:24 PM, demon09 said:

You're sure? For me it's the complete opposite. I'd happily wait even 1 min if it meant I could spend 7 minutes enjoying a fun match, then wait 10 seconds and than exit and enter a bunch of matches over and over again and probably spend more time than 1 min doing this until I get into a match I sort of like, if I'm lucky.

I think the same, but with most modern game dev studios implementing matchmaking in their online games, believe me — extensive studies have been done on this subject, and the solid conclusion is that the vast majority of people would rather suffer than wait. 

If you want to learn more about the psychological aspect of this, Vsauce made a cool experiment to demonstrate this point. The whole series is really good, actually.

[demon09 91]

On 3/28/2024 at 4:31 PM, Maf said:

I think the same, but with most modern game dev studios implementing matchmaking in their online games, believe me — extensive studies have been done on this subject, and the solid conclusion is that the vast majority of people would rather suffer than wait. 

If you want to learn more about the psychological aspect of this, Vsauce made a cool experiment to demonstrate this point. The whole series is really good, actually.

Ah bummer.

Do you know if it's possible to make the match-maker's waiting time adjustable by each player, so you can choose yourself how long you're willing to wait to get fairer matches? 

Edited March 28, 2024 by demon09

[Maf 32,859]

On 3/28/2024 at 7:37 PM, demon09 said:

Ah bummer.

Do you know if it's possible to make the match-maker's waiting time adjustable by each player, so you can choose yourself how long you're willing to wait to get fairer matches? 

It's possible, and I'd love to have this feature. But I'm 99% certain that's it's just not the kind of feature that gets added to games with MM.

[Potdindy 870]

Good topic. I'd agree with Maf in that I don't have time to sit for a minute between battles. Perhaps work could be done to give a losing side some advantage to minimize these bad battles

[PirateSpider 1,532]

On 3/28/2024 at 8:02 AM, Maf said:

Yes, but increasing waiting times even a little bit has huge implications for player retention. Platers are much more likely to put up with being put into unbalanced battles, than having to spend more time waiting in queue.

Honestly, I would like better balanced battles and less wait time in exchange for less modes to choose from and less players per battle.

[demon09 91]

On 3/29/2024 at 12:22 AM, PirateSpider said:

Honestly, I would like better balanced battles and less wait time in exchange for less modes to choose from and less players per battle.

Good idea. Id get rid of Seige, Assault and Juggernaut if it meant we'd get fairer matches.

[PirateSpider 1,532]

On 3/29/2024 at 12:48 AM, demon09 said:

Good idea. Id get rid of Seige, Assault and Juggernaut if it meant we'd get fairer matches.

Just do a game mode rotation about every other week or every month, completely remove ASL from regular MM, and bring back DM and SJR as part of regular MM. Then you can have the rotations look like this:

DM or SJR

TDM or TJR

CTF or rugby

CP or seige

 

[Jeers4U 745]

On 3/28/2024 at 9:28 AM, demon09 said:

It usually takes like 10-20 seconds to get into a match. I'd happily wait longer if it meant that the matches were fairer and actually fun.

will never happen.

fair matches don't make them money (ultimately)